Stars and Cigarettes
by MildlyInsane
Summary: A short tale of Jimmy's first days as a member of the crew on The Venture, during which he does some exploring around the ship, makes some mistakes, and bonds with Mr. Hayes.
1. Chapter 1

**Stars and Cigarettes**

 _ **Summary: A short tale of Jimmy's first days as a member of the crew on The Venture, during which he does some exploring around the ship, makes some mistakes, and bonds with Mr. Hayes.**_

 **I wrote this literal years ago and never uploaded it. It's gonna be three chapters, but if anyone actually reads this, it'll probably be after I've already uploaded them all, so you probably won't have to wait between chapters. Stories for King Kong are not in very high demand, I don't think. I'm mostly only interested in things no one else cares about, it seems and happened to get very attached to these secondary characters in a film the rest of the world didn't really have that strong of a reaction to... I don't believe anyone else on the planet saw this movie and therefore no one reads King Kong stories, but here it is anyway:**

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 _ **Chapter 1**_

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Jimmy sat cross-legged and silent on the floor in the corner of his favorite cage below deck. Ever since he sneaked aboard _The Venture_ a few weeks ago and was sort of accepted by the ship's crew, Jimmy had taken to hanging out in the cages any time he could. It wasn't that he disliked any of the other men on the ship. He just didn't really know them all that well yet, and always felt the safest when he was alone.

A lot of the ship's crew just ignored Jimmy. They let him do whatever he wanted (which consisted widely of staying hidden from their sight.) They hardly ever requested that he come up on deck or help with anything. Of course, his arm was still broken, he was eleven years old, and he wasn't at all experienced in any of the different jobs that needed to be done around the ship... He was in fact very grateful that none of them seemed too worried about him. The only one who really consistently checked up on him was the man who'd first found him in the cages, Mr. Hayes, the ship's first mate.

While sometimes Jimmy was annoyed by the guy constantly seeking him out and making sure he was doing alright, he supposed it was sort of nice to know someone would notice and maybe even worry if he disappeared. Considering Jimmy was a new-comer and none of the sailors knew him or had any reason to trust him, he sure was left alone a fair amount of the time. Even Mr. Hayes didn't follow him around constantly.

This left him a lot of time to explore the ship, mostly the portion below deck, where he was almost guaranteed to not run into anyone else. The men seemed to find the cages far less appealing than Jimmy did. Jimmy saw them as a sort of sanctuary. From what he heard from the sailors, they considered them dirty, cramped, uncomfortable, or even creepy.

After two weeks of living on this ship, Jimmy had pretty much memorized the layout of the cages. He knew which were his favorites, which ones were too dirty even for him, which ones were filled with crates, and what was inside those crates. He had explored the lower portion of the ship pretty much all he could. He supposed now that he'd seen all there was to see down here, he could take a closer look around the rest of the ship.

Grabbing onto one of the bars of the cage he was sitting in, Jimmy pulled himself to his feet. He stretched his left arm, the one that wasn't broken, and let out a yawn. He'd been sitting still quite a while.

Breathing in and out slowly, Jimmy stepped out of the cage and walked as carefully and quietly as he could toward the stairs that led up to the deck. Even though the sailors claimed he was perfectly welcome to be seen around the ship, Jimmy still tried to stay hidden. He didn't want to risk doing something wrong and having any of them get angry with him. He didn't want them looking at him, asking him questions, or even wondering about him. He could see in their expressions when their eyes fell on him that they had questions about where he came from and how his arm had been broken. They didn't ask, but they wondered. He could tell, and he didn't like seeing those questions in their eyes. Simply staying out of their sight entirely was preferable.

As he reached the top of the stairs and peeked out over the deck, he could see no one in sight. They must have all been busy elsewhere. Lumpy was likely cooking, Englehorn and Hayes were probably at the ship's wheel or somewhere looking at a map, planning the ship's course or something... Jimmy didn't know that much about sailing. At any rate, he seemed to be in the clear for now... but where should he explore? Which places on the ship might be worth seeing? Where would he be least likely to run into anyone else?

The cabins.

Jimmy probably wasn't supposed to go into the sailors' cabins. He had been assigned his own, and Mr. Hayes was constantly making sure he slept there instead of below deck, but he hadn't seen the others. Was his cabin a nice one? Did he just get whatever was left over, which would be one no one else wanted? He didn't much mind if his cabin had been a reject leftover. It was better than nothing. He had a warm, dry bed and a door that he could push a chair in front of to make sure he'd wake up if anyone walked in. It was a nice room. He just wondered what the other rooms were like... Did the other sailors have belongings? Did they keep any personal things in their rooms? He wondered if he'd be able to tell whose room was whose based on what was kept inside... Or maybe they just used the rooms to sleep in and to store their clothing. Maybe they didn't care much about possessions.

Quietly, the boy tip-toed across the deck and into the hall the cabins branched off of. He doubted anyone would be in their cabins this early in the evening. He hoped not at least...

Pushing gently on one of the cabins' doors, Jimmy peered inside. Sure enough, no one was in the room. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and slipped quickly into the room, pushing the door shut behind him.

He looked around the space of the cabin. It was pretty similar to his own, and seemed just about as empty as his room as well. There was a bed, a small dresser, a desk, and a chair.

He walked over to the desk and peered down at it. On its surface was a map. Jimmy ran his fingers over the worn paper. There were creases on it where it had been folded, probably hundreds of times. Jimmy wondered if the sailors even needed the maps anymore. How long had they worked on this ship? Did they have their courses memorized by now? Or did it depend on other things, like wind and waves? Could they judge that kind of thing simply by having a lot of experience doing so already too? Maybe he'd ask Mr. Hayes sometime, if he could muster up the courage to do so. As it were, he tried to keep his conversations with any of the sailors as short as possible.

Jimmy glanced over the desk's surface again. On top of the map was a strange metal instrument. There were lines and numbers written on it, and it had a piece of it that looked like it was made for someone to look through. He picked it up and put the eye-piece up to his left eye as he closed his right one. He couldn't really see anything. Just a blur of the color of the room's wall.

Turning the instrument in his hands, Jimmy continued looking it over. He wondered what it was for. Whose room was this? Maybe that could help him figure out the use of the instrument. He doubted it was Lumpy's room. Lumpy would have no use for something you look through... All that man seemed to care about was cooking. A captain or first mate might use it. But so might a lot of the sailors. It looked like just a looking glass or telescope of some sort... but why did it have the numbers?

Perhaps he could just take the strange thing with him and try to figure it out on his own... He could wait until the other sailors were mostly asleep and then take it out on deck and see how far he could see with it... But he might not be able to see much at night...

Fortunately, Jimmy's pants had pockets that were rather deep. He was in fact wearing pants that had previously belonged to one of the crew, Choy. They were too long for him, but not by too much. Choy was a small man, barely taller than Jimmy. He stuffed the metal device into one of the pockets and crossed the room to the other side where the dresser was.

Opening up the drawer, he looked inside. What he found there was a pad of paper, a pen, a small lighter, and cigarettes. This didn't give him much of a clue as to whose room this was either. Almost all the sailors smoked. He wondered if he'd like to smoke... Jimmy picked up the box of cigarettes and opened it. There were eight left in the container.

Staring at the cabin's door, Jimmy pulled one of the cigarettes out of the box, placed it between his teeth, and put the rest of the cigarettes back in the drawer, replacing the box in his hand with the lighter. He stared at the door again. He could feel his heart racing. But he wanted to try the cigarette. Lumpy seemed to be unable to function without cigarettes. The captain seemed to like them too. So did most of the sailors. There had to be some reason they were all so fond of the things.

Still staring at the room's entrance, Jimmy fiddled with the lighter. How did Lumpy make this look so easy? Every time the boy saw the ship's cook, it seemed he was lighting up a cigarette, and he never had any trouble getting the lighter to work properly.

Jimmy tried the lighter again, again, and a fourth time before a flame finally sprouted up. As he raised it toward the end of the cigarette hanging out of his mouth, leaving the flame there just as long as Lumpy usually did. Making sure the flame was really out, Jimmy moved to put the lighter back in the dresser. He paused as his hand was inches from the drawer and decided to put the small lighter in his second pants pocket instead.

Now he had to deal with the smoking cigarette between his lips. Putting his fingers around it, he inhaled through his mouth, ignoring the stinging, burning sensation in his throat and lungs. What was so great about this? Why would someone chose to smoke these all the time, every day? It actually hurt.

As his eyes began to water, Jimmy tried to exhale calmly, watching as smoke filled the space in front of his face. It didn't take long at all before his attempt at breathing calmly was completely destroyed as the smoke tickled his throat, or lungs, or something the wrong way. He erupted into a fit of painful coughs as he tried to force clean air back into his lungs. He hoped no one was anywhere near the room... What if they heard him?

He coughed and gasped for a minute longer before finally deciding he was in the clear, that he was in fact not going to suffocate, even though he still felt a little sick and his throat still felt scratchy. He blew on the end of the cigarette, trying to extinguish the invisible embers that were causing it to continue emitting smoke, but that only made more smoke come out of it. Coughing again, he held his breath and opened the door slowly. No one was in the hall.

Jimmy tip-toed as fast as he could while still being quiet until he reached the ship's railing. He looked over it at the water below, tossing the cigarette into the water and then looking around himself some more. He could see Mr. Hayes walking in the distance. The first mate seemed like he hadn't noticed Jimmy tossing the cigarette into the ocean, and for that Jimmy was grateful. Mr. Hayes simply smiled and nodded toward Jimmy, waving slightly. Jimmy nervously waved back, waiting until Mr. Hayes turned away before dashing back down to the cages.

As soon as he was back in his cage, in his comfort zone, he resumed coughing. He would have really liked a glass of water at this point, but he didn't want it badly enough to go seek it out and risk running into someone who might ask him questions. So he stayed below deck, clearing his throat and coughing every few minutes, hoping no one would come looking for him, hoping whoever owned the cigarettes and lighter and strange metal tool didn't notice them missing and suspect him of thievery.

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	2. Chapter 2

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 ** _Chapter2_**

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Much to Jimmy's misfortune, it didn't take long at all after he reclaimed his place in the cage furthest back and most hidden from the world before someone felt it necessary to check in on him. And of course, that person was none other than Mr. Hayes.

By now Mr. Hayes knew Jimmy didn't like being sneaked up on and didn't like surprises, so he announced his presence as soon as it was reasonable to do so.

"Jimmy?" the first mate called out. "You down here?"

Of course, Jimmy already knew Mr. Hayes was approaching before the man spoke, because he'd been paying attention and had seen the man's shadow, and Mr. Hayes knew the boy was down here because that's where he always was, and he'd probably seen Jimmy walking down the stairs a few minutes earlier.

Jimmy didn't answer. Instead, he moved his hand over his bulging pocket as he stood up from his sitting position. The last thing he needed was for Mr. Hayes to notice he had stolen whatever it was he'd taken from the cabin room. The lighter in his other pocket wasn't so big. He didn't need to take much precaution in trying to hide that.

"I was glad to see you up on deck a minute ago." Hayes continued talking. "Remember, you can stay up there as long as you want. There's no reason to hide. No body's gonna mind you being around. You know that, right?"

Jimmy just stared at him. The closer the man came to the cage, the more nervous Jimmy was becoming. Did he already know Jimmy had stolen from someone on the ship? Was that someone Mr. Hayes? Could the room have been his? Did he smoke? Jimmy didn't think so, but he wasn't sure. Maybe he did smoke and just didn't as often as some of the others.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, Jimmy took a step back as the first mate stepped into the cage. His back was now literally against the wall, and he could feel the scratchy feeling returning in his lungs and throat. He wanted to cough, but he didn't want Mr. Hayes to be any more suspicious than he may have already been.

"You okay, Jimmy?" The sailor asked, a look of concern spreading across his face.

Jimmy didn't know whether to answer. Was Mr. Hayes really asking if he was okay? Or was it a rhetorical question? Did he already know what Jimmy had done? Was he asking for an admission of guilt without actually having to come out and say it?

"Hey, you alright?" Hayes asked again, taking one more small step forward.

Jimmy pressed himself even closer to the wall. "Yeah." he managed to say with a voice that sounded much too scratchy to be his own. Just hearing his own rasping voice reminded him again of his tickling throat, which caused him to finally give in and let out a few painful coughs. How did Lumpy even survive smoking those things all day every day? Even just puffing on one for a few seconds had left Jimmy in discomfort for quite a while after the actual cigarette was long gone.

Mr. Hayes narrowed his eyes as Jimmy continued coughing. When the boy didn't stop after a few moments, Hayes pressed onward. "Maybe you're up and around too soon." Hayes suggested. "Are you feeling sick?"

Jimmy couldn't help but flinch when the sailor reached toward him. Through all of the man's words and actions thus far, the boy still couldn't tell if he knew what Jimmy had done or not. Did he just think Jimmy had a cough? Was he trying to be helpful? Or was he dropping very subtle hints and asking rhetorical questions in order to get Jimmy to confess?

... ... ...

The first mate took a step back and withdrew his hand as soon as he noticed Jimmy flinching away from him. He had only meant to check and see if Jimmy had a fever. He'd even moved slowly so the boy wouldn't take the gesture the wrong way. Since Jimmy was coughing so much, Hayes thought it might make sense that he could be coming down with something.

Of course, the kid had been pretty jumpy ever since Mr. Hayes had first found him down here a few weeks prior. The boy being reluctant to speak or to go up on deck and be around the other men wasn't surprising, but instead of slowly making progress as he had been over the previous days, and becoming more at ease around the sailors, he seemed to be moving backwards today, acting more fearful now, and seemingly over nothing. Not only did he flinch when Hayes reached toward him, but he had been acting odd the entire time the first mate was down below deck with him.

"What's wrong, Jimmy?" Hayes asked with a firm tone. He understood by now that Jimmy liked to keep secrets, but he didn't like how the boy was acting. "Did one of the crew say something to you?" He asked. He couldn't imagine who would have said something to upset the boy... Maybe Jimmy had taken someone's words the wrong way.

Jimmy shook his head and coughed again.

"Can I get you a glass of water?" Hayes asked. "Do you feel sick?" he repeated the question he was pretty sure he'd already asked at least once. Maybe just feeling ill was enough to make Jimmy act strange. It wasn't like the first mate really knew the boy all that well.

Jimmy shook his head again, but still didn't speak. He did, however, keep his wide eyes focused on the sailor looming over him.

Mr. Hayes sighed. Jimmy was acting much too similarly to the way he had on the day Mr. Hayes had discovered the boy down here in this same cage not so long ago. Over the past couple of weeks, Jimmy had either stayed hidden below deck, or following close behind the first mate. Any time Mr. Hayes asked him to come up on deck, the boy had followed him like a puppy. And now he was acting like he'd never seen the man before.

Squatting down so that he wasn't towering over Jimmy, Mr. Hayes looked him over. "You gotta tell me what's wrong, Jimmy." Hayes said gently. "I promised you I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you, remember?"

... ... ...

Jimmy continued staring at the man, who was now looking back at him at nearly eye-level. Sure, the first mate had promised not to hurt him back a few weeks ago when they'd first met. Mr. Hayes didn't know Jimmy yet back then. He hadn't had the chance to be disappointed and infuriated with him yet... Not until now.

What would the sailor do when he learned Jimmy had stolen from the ship's crew, maybe even from the captain, and maybe even from the first mate himself? What would he do if he figured out Jimmy had tried smoking one of the cigarettes he'd found in a room he wasn't even supposed to be in in the first place? The same promises he'd made when he just saw Jimmy as an injured boy who'd done nothing wrong probably wouldn't apply anymore.

Hayes was still maintaining a fair distance between himself and Jimmy, but Jimmy couldn't help but remain nervous as he clutched his fingers around the awkward metal object mis-shaping his pocket.

The first mate seemed to finally notice Jimmy was trying to hide something in his pocket just then. Jimmy could tell when the man noticed because Hayes's eyes narrowed as soon as they scanned over Jimmy's fidgeting hand. "What have you got there, Jimmy?" He asked.

His voice didn't really sound angry, but it didn't really sound pleased either. He knew Jimmy had something he wasn't supposed to have, and he was probably going to be really angry when he found out what it was. This wasn't just an apple or a coin. This was something that probably cost someone a fair amount of money. That, and if he noticed the strange instrument, would he notice the lighter too? Then would the whole deal with the cigarette be found out? Jimmy had only been here two weeks and the sailors were already going to find out they couldn't stand to put up with him any longer.

"Jimmy..." Hayes said again, his voice sounding pretty stern this time. "What's in your pocket?"

Clutching the material tighter in his hand, Jimmy breathed in slowly. As his hand squeezed the metal under the fabric of the pants he'd borrowed from Choy, Jimmy felt a sharp stinging sensation in his palm. Some pointed part of the tool must have cut him. He winced as he considered squeezing the object even tighter and making a run for it.

He looked down at his pocket. Sure enough, a sharp bit of the metal could be seen protruding out of the fabric of his pocket... The tool had not only cut his hand, but torn the material of the pants that weren't even Jimmy's. He could even see a smudge of his own blood near the tear. Now he could add Choy to the list of people who had a good reason to be angry with him.

"Jimmy..." Hayes's voice was even more stern now as he reached toward Jimmy's torn pocket.

At that, Jimmy dodged out of the way and moved to make his way around the first mate. He didn't want to stick around and see what the man would do about this.

But Jimmy had barely made it a foot away before he felt a large hand wrap around his forearm. Fortunately it wasn't the arm that was broken.

Jimmy let out a sound that almost sounded like a growl as he attempted to pull his arm out of the grasp of Mr. Hayes. "I didn't steal nothin'!" Jimmy screamed.

Mr. Hayes saw through this blatant lie, of course. He grabbed the instrument out of Jimmy's pocket mere seconds later. "Where'd you get this, Jimmy?" The first mate asked, staring right into Jimmy's eyes. His facial features were stern and serious.

Frowning, Jimmy looked away and tugged at his arm again. The truth would only make Hayes angry. A lie would be obvious and would probably make him more angry. "Lemme go!" Jimmy growled, kicking out at the sailor's leg.

"Jimmy, stop." Mr. Hayes ordered, putting the tool down on the ground and placing his second hand lightly on Jimmy's shoulder. "You're bleeding." He commented, loosening his grip on Jimmy's arm and turning the boy's cut hand over to see it better.

As the first mate's grip on Jimmy's arm had loosened significantly, the boy took this opportunity to wriggle free of the man's grasp entirely. He sprinted toward the stairs as fast as he could, not taking the time to look back and make sure Hayes wasn't close behind him. He didn't even take care to make sure no one else was up on the deck as he emerged.

Once he was upstairs, however, he wasn't really sure where to go. He was, after all, stuck on this ship, in the middle of the ocean. The only way he could really get away from Mr. Hayes and avoid his anger would be to jump in the water. Would drowning be a better fate than whatever punishment Hayes might dish out? Probably not.

Jimmy continued running aimlessly until he spotted the crow's nest. Mr. Hayes had explained that to him once already. It was a sort of lookout area. The first mate had mentioned a lot of the sailors didn't like going up there.

Jimmy turned around slightly and looked around himself. Hayes was nowhere to be seen. He saw another sailor whose name he didn't remember, but the man didn't seem to be paying attention to him. Maybe he could get away with this after all, for now.

With much difficulty, Jimmy began his ascent to the crow's nest. As he avoided using his broken arm, Jimmy didn't find climbing the rope netting to be exactly easy, but he sure didn't want to just stand down there and wait to be found by someone who was surely angry with him. When he finally made it to the top of the lookout perch, he was of course pretty exhausted. He'd climbed it as fast as he could, and it was a difficult climb to begin with considering he only had one usable arm.

Sighing, Jimmy laid down in the bucket-like structure, keeping his back as close to the short wall railing as possible. He didn't want to fall out of the crow's nest, of course. It seemed like kind of a long way down. Hopefully no one saw him climbing up there. This was obviously not a permanent solution to his problems, but at least he could avoid Mr. Hayes for the time being.

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	3. Chapter 3

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 ** _Chapter3_**

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Standing on the deck by the railing of The Venture, Mr. Hayes breathed out tiredly as he looked out over the ocean. It had been with a bit of reluctance that the captain had agreed to welcome Jimmy to stay on the ship. Englehorn had promised Hayes keeping the boy in check and looking after him wouldn't be easy, and that promise was fulfilling itself now. Jimmy definitely wasn't an easy aspect of Hayes's life right now.

As soon as the boy had finally wriggled out of the first mate's hands, he'd run off. Hayes didn't even attempt to go after him. Clearly the boy needed his space for a moment. It wasn't like he really had many places to hide on the ship. Hayes would find him when he'd given the boy time to calm down. As soon as he wanted to know where the kid was, he would surely find him easily.

Of course, the first mate didn't want to cause Jimmy any more distress, but he also wanted to make it clear that stealing wasn't something he was going to allow on The Venture. Maybe he had to steal to survive once... but he didn't have to here. Somehow he needed to make sure the boy understood that.

Hayes turned around and leaned his back against the ship's railing. Looking over the deck, he spotted one of the crew members. "Frank," Hayes called out to get the man's attention.

Frank looked up from the ropes he had been untangling and coiling.

Hayes waved him over. As the sailor approached the first mate, Hayes went ahead with his question. "Have you seen Jimmy around?" He asked. The boy had run up on deck only twenty or so minutes ago. Frank was right there and seemed to have been working on those ropes for quite a while. He'd probably seen Jimmy pass by.

"Ah, ya mean that boy? Yeah." Frank answered. "Think I saw him climbin' up tha crow's nest a little while ago. I wasn't payin' him much attention though. He could'a left since then."

Hayes nodded, narrowing his eyes at the other sailor. "You sure it was him?" The first mate wondered. "His arm is hurt... I wouldn't think he'd be able to climb the net..."

"It was him alright." Frank nodded in affirmation. "Couldn't have been anybody else. Definitely a kid. I haven't seen him much and ain't used to what he looks like, but he's the only kid around, far as I know."

"Alright." Hayes agreed. He supposed it wouldn't have been impossible for Jimmy to make his way up there. "Thanks, Frank."

The sailor nodded and shuffled back over to his work.

Hayes looked over at the crow's nest. As far as he could see, no one was up there. He couldn't see anyone standing, but if the boy were trying to hide, he could be lying down. Sighing again, Mr. Hayes made his way over to the net.

He considered yelling up to the boy and requesting that he come down, but he didn't want to make a huge spectacle of this. If the other sailors thought Hayes and the kid were in some sort of disagreement, it might draw in spectators, and that was not preferred. So instead, Hayes just began climbing up the rope.

The crow's nest wasn't a place Hayes was particularly fond of. In fact, he didn't know any of the sailors who enjoyed being assigned lookout duty. It made most of them sea sick, and some of them felt a little nervous being so high off the ground in such a small platform. Hayes wasn't afraid of heights, but all the ship's movements seemed exaggerated when one was up in the crow's nest. Getting sea sick there wasn't uncommon at all.

When Hayes reached the top of the net and prepared to pull himself up, he found that Jimmy was indeed where Frank had said he'd be. The boy looked like he'd been lying down, but he scurried into a sitting position as soon as he noticed Mr. Hayes.

As Jimmy backed against the railing of the platform as far as he possibly could, Hayes remained still. The boy was clearly terrified. In fact, his eyes resembled that of a wild animal who had just been cornered. They were wide, unblinking, and dark, filled with dread. The boy's chest rose and fell rapidly as he stayed backed up closely against the railing.

Instead of climbing up the netting the rest of the way so he would be on the platform too, Hayes stayed with only the upper portion of his body in the area where Jimmy had set up temporary camp. He didn't want to scare the boy any more than he already had.

"I just want to talk to you, Jimmy," Hayes promised, "and," he added, "if you'll let me, I'd like to bandage your hand."

Jimmy watched the first mate carefully as Hayes reached into his pocket and pulled out a clean, length of white gauze. The sailor placed it carefully on the wooden floor in between himself and Jimmy and then looked back into the boy's eyes.

The kid stared down at the gauze for just a few seconds and then stared back at Hayes with wide eyes. He still seemed hesitant to agree to what Mr. Hayes was saying, so Hayes resumed talking. "Listen, Jimmy." He started. "I want you to know I'm not angry with you. And I'm sorry if I scared you down below deck. I noticed you had something you weren't supposed to have. That tool belongs to Captain Englehorn. I was surprised to see you with it, and I knew the captain probably didn't hand it over to you willingly. If I seemed angry or threatening, I apologize. You just have to know it's not okay to take things that don't belong to you. Understand?"

The boy continued staring skeptically.

"There's no reason to steal anything on this ship." Hayes added. "Anything you need, you'll get it automatically. You don't need to fight for it. You don't have to sneak around and fend for yourself. I'll make sure you're okay. If you ever get the urge to take something, to look at it or see what it does, just ask. I'd be glad to teach you how to work different things on the ship, and I'm sure the rest of the crew would too."

Jimmy frowned and blinked. He opened his mouth as if to speak but then quickly closed it.

It seemed like the first mate's words were getting through to Jimmy. Though it was impossible to know for sure that Jimmy would take these words to heart and refrain from stealing again, it seemed like he was at least listening to what Hayes was saying to him. Hopefully this chat would be enough to show the boy that stealing wasn't necessary, but also that any of his misbehaviors wouldn't result in physical pain. He wanted the kid to respect the ship and its crew. He didn't want himself or any of the other sailors to be a source of fear.

"Can I see your hand?" Hayes asked again. He knew Jimmy had cut himself earlier, and he was certain that cut hadn't been tended to yet.

Jimmy licked his lips and furrowed his brow. His eyes looked like he might be considering doing as Hayes asked, but his body didn't move to comply.

Hayes was finding thus far that this boy was much more inclined to cooperate if he was ordered to do something versus if he was asked to do something. Hayes asking him if the first mate could bandage the cut on the boy's hand resulted in silent refusal. So instead of asking again, Hayes decided on a different approach. He climbed the rest of the way into the crow's nest and sat down a foot or so away from the boy.

Picking up the gauze he had placed on the floor earlier, Hayes reached out slowly, putting his hand between himself and the boy. "Let me see your hand." He ordered, in a firm but gentle voice. He needed Jimmy to know Hayes meant no harm, but also needed the boy to see the first mate was serious.

After a few moments of intense staring, Jimmy finally offered up his hand, slowly, and with a shaking arm.

Hayes frowned and took the boy's hand in his own as gently as he could manage. He hated that Jimmy seemed so afraid of him. The first mate had been trying so hard over the past few weeks to prove to the boy that he had no reason to be afraid of anyone on the ship. Wherever he'd come from, whatever he'd had to deal with before, that was over now. Things wouldn't be like that anymore. He wouldn't have to worry about anyone lashing out at him and hurting him.

The cut on Jimmy's hand was shallow and much of the blood had dried by now. Nevertheless, Hayes began to carefully wrap the gauze around it. As he did this, he continued speaking, trying to put Jimmy at ease. "Do you know what the tool you took is, Jimmy?" Hayes asked, glancing up at the boy's eyes for a moment.

Jimmy shook his head. Hayes could see in his eyes that he was watching the sailor's actions very carefully.

"It's called a sextant." Hayes explained. "We use it to keep track of where we are when there's no landmarks to be seen. It would be easy to get lost in the ocean when all the water looks the same, so if we ever aren't quite sure where we've gotten to, we can use the sextant to figure out where we are."

Hayes glanced at Jimmy's face again when he still heard no response. The boy looked very slightly confused. Finally, much to Mr. Hayes's relief, the kid spoke to him. "How?" he asked.

Mr. Hayes smiled. "Well, it's a little complicated at first... but basically, we look for certain stars, and then measure where they are in the sky to tell where we are on the earth. Depending on lots of factors, certain stars will be in different places compared to our location."

Jimmy frowned. "The stars move?" he wondered, looking quite skeptical.

"Well, they seem to." Hayes explained as he finished wrapping the gauze around Jimmy's palm. "To us, it looks like the stars move around, but it's really the earth that's moving. Navigating by the stars is complicated, but very accurate once you remember where certain stars are during certain times of the year and compared to specific locations."

Jimmy shook his head. "I always thought I was lookin' at the same stars every night. How do you tell 'em apart? None of 'em look different than the others. It's just a big mess of little dots."

"If you study the stars long enough, you can make out patterns and constellations. I can show you." Hayes offered. "The sun's going to be setting soon. When the stars come out tonight, I can point out a couple constellations."

Jimmy nodded in agreement. "Can I still stay on the ship?" He asked in a timid voice, keeping his eyes on Hayes.

The first mate nodded. "Of course you can." He answered. "And if you promise not to steal from anyone else, Englehorn never has to know the sextant left his room." He smiled.

Jimmy smiled too for a moment, but his smile faded too soon. He looked like he was hiding something still.

"What's wrong?" Hayes wondered.

... ... ...

Looking down, Jimmy hesitated. He focused on his right thigh. The lighter in his pocket didn't stand out like the sextant had. Hayes would probably never knew he took it as long as Jimmy shut up about it. It seemed like the room he'd been in was Englehorn's... If the captain noticed his lighter missing, he'd probably just figure he lost it himself. There was no need for Jimmy to bring that up. Hayes would probably only be patient for so long. Stealing one thing was forgivable... But Jimmy had also stolen a lighter and a cigarette. He'd even smoked that cigarette... How would Hayes deal with that information? The answer of course, was he wouldn't deal with it. Jimmy wouldn't mention it to the first mate. He figured it would be best to just keep that information to himself.

He glanced at his other pocket, the one he had torn on accident. Then he frowned again.

"I forgive you, Jimmy." Hayes's voice continued in front of him. "And Englehorn would too, even if we told him the truth. We know you don't mean any harm. You got no reason to feel bad."

Jimmy looked up. Mr. Hayes was looking right at him, and the man looked sort of worried. Jimmy wondered why he was being so nice. All Jimmy had done on the ship so far was sneak aboard without paying them for a ride, steal their things, use their resources... and he probably had said a few rude remarks to some of them in the beginning... He didn't really remember that first day all too well... He had just been too exhausted and scared. At any rate, he had been nothing but a hindrance and an annoyance. Considering this, Mr. Hayes was doing much more for Jimmy than he should have felt any obligation to.

"You okay now?" Hayes was still speaking, even though Jimmy continued failing to know what to say.

"Do you think Choy's gonna be mad at me?" Jimmy finally asked a question that had been nagging in the back of his mind.

Hayed narrowed his eyes. "Why would Choy be mad at you, Jimmy?" He wondered.

Jimmy gestured toward his pocket. "I borrowed these pants from him. Mine were all wet from the rain, remember?"

"Ah," Hayes nodded. "I remember. Choy won't mind." The first mate promised. "I guess you haven't spoken with him much. He's probably the friendliest guy on the entire ship. That blood will wash out easy, and he won't mind the little tear. It was just an accident after all."

Yet again, Jimmy didn't know what to say. He felt so relieved that Mr. Hayes hadn't responded violently or even with loud screaming or threats. The man had basically let him get away with it completely. Of course, he didn't know the whole story, and he took the item Jimmy stole back (the one he knew about anyway...) but he hadn't really seemed all that angry.

He watched as Mr. Hayes slowly brought his hand over and placed it lightly on Jimmy's arm. He could tell the man was moving carefully due to Jimmy's previous reaction to such gestures. Jimmy felt kind of dumb now, for flinching away before... He supposed he didn't really need to worry about Mr. Hayes smacking him. The first mate probably wouldn't do that.

"You wanna head back down now?" Hayes asked. "Being up here too long makes me sea sick..."

Jimmy looked down at Hayes's hand on his arm and then focused his attention back on the first mate's face. Hayes was smiling slightly, a sort of encouraging smile. If he was telling the truth and being up there really made him feel sea sick, he was probably hoping Jimmy would agree to climb back down with him.

"Okay." Jimmy agreed. "Wouldn't want you, an experienced sailor, to get sea sick." He smirked.

Hayes laughed. "Hey now. Lots of sailors get sea sick being up here. You might too if you stayed up here longer. Tends to feel like your swaying a lot more up here than down there."

"I feel fine." Jimmy shrugged.

"Well, maybe you can be the lookout once your arm heals." Mr. Hayes suggested. "No one else wants to do it."

Jimmy nodded and felt a wide smile spreading across his face. He liked that idea, the idea of being incorporated into the crew, being a part of the group and doing something useful for them. When Hayes had promised him he could stay, he had meant it... and he'd meant it as long term. He was even planning for Jimmy's future as a part of the crew.

Suddenly Jimmy felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time, a feeling of security and belonging. The other sailors probably still saw him as a newcomer who didn't really fit in, but they wouldn't see him that way forever. He was going to become one of them. He was going to fit in here. He was going to actually be able to feel safe in this place, and it was all thanks to Mr. Hayes.

Without much thinking, and against everything he normally guarded himself against, Jimmy reached his uninjured arm out toward Mr. Hayes, offering him something no one had offered Jimmy in a very long time, a hug.

The first mate looked confused at first, but returned the gesture after a second of hesitation, wrapping his large arms around Jimmy's slender shoulders.

Mr. Hayes's grip was secure, but not too tight. Jimmy knew he should break the embrace sooner rather than later. He didn't want to be seen as a weak little child. Yet he felt so safe in the first mate's arms. While he couldn't ever be certain that things in his life would all work out, he truly felt they would this time.

 _ **xxxxxx**_

 _ **THE END**_

 _ **xxxxxx**_

 _ **Thanks for reading. :)**_


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